My companion and I ate at L'Astrance in the fall of 2005 and by all accounts it remains one of the hottest places in town--and deservedly so! We ordered the 150 Euro tasting menu and ordered wine by the glass. According to my journal, the meal was as follows:

Eggnog in eggshell (the Passard influence--the chef apprenticed under him)

Fruit plate

The usual assortment of after-dinner confections.

*******

So, the fussiness quotient is definitely there. I was skeptical at first but the meal improved as it went along and by the end, I was delighted. It was a spectacular meal and a wonderful way to round off our stay in Paris.PS. We were seated in the balcony. At first, I thought we were being given the Parisian cold shoulder and being balkanized but the view gave us a wonderful vantage point and it proved wonderful theatre.